


Party Crashing and Confessions

by thundercaya



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Herc is the mom friend, M/M, Party, Underage Drinking, background jeffmads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 20:39:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9459587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thundercaya/pseuds/thundercaya
Summary: “My brother Harry wants to come. I need you to tell him no.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Passionate_Fiction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Passionate_Fiction/gifts).



Herc’s parents were on vacation in Ireland, and if Alex had his way, that would mean a party every night until they got back. Why the hell not? It was summer, so there was no school to worry about. Gilbert’s own family vacation was still weeks away, so if there were going to be any parties he preferred them to be while he was still in the country. For his part, John was glad for any opportunity to be around his friends, Alex in particular, and he would certainly never turn down a party. Herc, however, wasn’t so keen on the idea. It was the first time his parents allowed him to stay home while they were away, so he wasn’t about to take that kind of risk.

“No _partie_ s,” he told his friends. Then he grinned. “Only _one_.”

They planned the party for the first weekend the Mulligans would be gone, to allow maximum time to clean up after. They started a list of who to invite, trying to keep the numbers down, but they held no delusions that word wouldn’t spread. 

“Can I invite Thomas?” Gilbert asked.

“Ugh,” Alex groaned.  “Why would you ever?”

“He’s my friend,” Gilbert defended. “I like him. You’d like him too if you gave him a chance.”

“Gross,” Alex said. He shot a look at John. “Right John?”

“Yeah, totally gross,” John agreed, through truth be told he really didn’t care one way or the other when it came to Thomas Jefferson.

“He can come,” Herc said, “as long you tell him it doesn’t mean he can invite all his friends.”

“I’m sure he’ll bring James,” Gilbert said.

“Yeah, I figured that much,” Herc said. “I meant he can’t invite anyone besides that.”

“All right, thanks. I’ll tell him.”

“Anyone else?” Herc asked.

“My brother Harry wants to come,” John said. “I need you to tell him no.”

“How’d he find out?” Herc asked. “We haven’t even started asking around yet.”

“He heard me on the phone,” John sighed. “He wouldn’t stop bugging me until I promised him I’d ask. So I’m gonna need you to tell him he can’t come.”

“Aw, what’s wrong with the kid having fun once in a while?” Alex asked.

John pulled a face. “If he goes, _I_ won’t have fun.”

“Fair point,” Herc said. “So why don’t you just tell him?”

“If he knows I’m the one who doesn’t want him there, he’ll try to convince my dad to keep me home that night.”

“Well, we can’t have _that_ ,” Alex said. “Herc, tell him no.”

Herc sighed. “Thanks for always leaving me with the dirty work.”

  


An hour before the guests were supposed to arrive found the squad writing names on Solo cups with Sharpies.

“Can’t everyone write their names on their own cups?” Alex asked as he set down another finished cup.

“It’s a nice touch,” Herc insisted. “People will love it.”

“They don’t care about the cups, Herc,” John said, though that didn’t stop him from dotting an “i” with a little flower. “They care about what’s in them.”

“Well, I took care of that, too,” Herc defended.

“I think you mean I took care of it,” Gilbert said. “You owe me. Getting that fake ID wasn’t easy.”

Herc waved this off. “Now that you have it you can use it whenever you want. I think that’s repayment enough.”

As Herc predicted, the personalized cups were a hit, particularly with the girls, who were quite pleased with the embellishments John added to their names. John was always happy to receive attention for his art, but as the girls drank the attention veered more towards the kind he didn’t care for from that particular gender. He glanced around the dimly lit living room for one of his friends, hoping for an escape. 

Gilbert was chatting animatedly with Thomas, who had a very uncomfortable-looking James under his arm. There was no way John would be able to get his attention. Alex had stepped outside with one of the Schuyler sisters, so in addition to that being something John didn’t want to think about, he would be no help. And Herc. Herc was flitting about from group to group making sure everyone was enjoying the party, so if John waited long enough he’d probably show up, but he wanted out now. Out of the corner of his eye, John caught movement by the front door and he glanced over willing it to be Alex coming back inside. Instead his eyes landed on his brother Harry who looked a mix of thrilled and terrified.

As much as John did not want Harry to be here it was a good excuse.

“Oh, my brother’s here,” he said. “See you later.” He approached Harry who flashed him a smile, which quickly fell away into distress as he realized how upset John was.

“H-hi, Jack,” he said, barely audible over the music, touching his index fingers together. “W-what’s up?”

“Harry, what are you doing here?” John demanded.

“Y-your friend Hercules said I could come,” Harry defended. “It’s, uh… it’s his house, isn’t it?”  
  
“Dad doesn’t let you go to parties.”  
  
“I, well, I told him I was going with you. He said--” Harry deepened his voice “--‘Good, maybe Jack can teach you a thing or two about acting like a tolerable human being.’”

John massaged his temple. If he sent Harry home now, he’d definitely find a way to get him in trouble with their father. “I'm not teaching you shit because you're going to stay away from me. Am I clear?”

Harry flashed a quick, nervous smile like he wasn’t sure if this was a victory or not. “Okay.”

“If Herc really told you you could come, then there should be a cup with your name on it over there,” John said, pointing at the refreshment table. “Have a Coke or a water. Nothing else. Understand?”

“Sure, Jack. Whatever you say.” Harry hurried away and John set off to find Herc.

“Hey John!” Herc grinned when John found him. “Having fun?”

John didn’t bother answering the question. It would be clear enough that he wasn’t. “Why’d you tell my brother he could come?”

Herc winced and adjusted his beanie. “Okay, look, John, I sent him the text, like you said. I told him the party was only for incoming seniors and seniors who just graduated so, sorry, maybe next time. He replied like ‘okay that's cool, I already know my brother hates me, it doesn't matter if his friends hate me too, no one wants me around anyway, so whatever, it’s fine.’”

John groaned. “And you fell for that?”

“John, you have to understand. What my parents have in them that made them want to let Alex live with us? Your brother awakened that in me. It broke my heart, John.”

“I don’t _hate_ him, Herc.”

“ _I_ know that,” Herc said. “I just don’t know if _he_ knows that.”

John sighed. “It’s a wonder you don’t have stray cats all over your yard living off of your handouts. Why didn't you at least tell me he was coming?”

“I was hoping you'd be more open to the idea after a few drinks. You’re obviously not, so I’ll tell you what. Forget he’s here. I’ll check on him and make sure he’s not doing anything too stupid, all right?”

“Fine,” John said.

Alex eventually came back inside. He didn’t look disheveled or anything, but John still didn’t ask him if he’d had a nice talk with Angelica. He was able to loosen up a bit once he was hanging out with Alex, but he still shot occasional glances at Harry. For the most part the kid seemed to be trying to make friends with Aaron Burr, perhaps because Burr was the only one here who was too polite to tell him to get lost. He was probably talking the guy’s ear off about Pokemon. Not that John thought there was anything wrong with Pokemon, but he was almost sure that Harry didn’t have the social awareness to realize that Burr just wasn’t interested.

A few more drinks and John forgot about Harry entirely, that was until he was approached by a grimacing Gilbert.

“John,” Gilbert said. “Hercules wanted me to tell you that your brother is, uh….” He cleared his throat and averted his gaze. “...passed out drunk upstairs.”

“What?” John demanded. “I thought Herc was watching him!”

“He was!” Gilbert assured. “Right up until James Madison threw up on him and he had to go get cleaned up.”

“See?” Alex said. “I knew letting them come was a bad idea.”

“Why did James throw up?” John asked. “Was he drunk? Does James Madison drink?”

“No, no, no,” Gilbert said. “He threw up because Herc tried to talk to him. I told him, don’t talk to James directly. If you need to ask him something, tell Thomas, and Thomas will ask him. But did he listen to me? No. And now Thomas and James are gone, and I-”

“Okay, no, who even cares,” John said. “Where did you say my brother is?”

“Upstairs,” Gilbert said again. “He’s in Herc’s room. Herc’s there, too, making sure he doesn’t throw up and choke to death on it or something.”

John cringed. “Did you have to say that?”

“What? I said Herc is making sure that _doesn’t_ happen. You should be less worried because I said that, not more.”

“Well, let’s go check on him,” Alex said, tugging on John’s arm. “That should put you at ease, right?”

Alex knocked on Herc’s door and Herc answered immediately. 

“Hey John. I’m sorry. He’s fine, though, really. When you’re ready to go home we’ll just wake him up and it’ll be fine.”

“How much did he drink?” John asked, eyeing his brother, curled up on Herc’s bed.

“If he didn’t lie to me, then just one beer.”

“God, fucking lightweight,” John muttered. “You should get back to the party. I should look after him.”

“No,” Herc said. “I told you I’d take care of it. You guys go.” He ushered John and Alex out of the room. “Have fun.” He closed the door.

John leaned against the wall in the hallway. “I don’t think I can have anymore fun tonight.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Alex said. “Do you want to just hang out in my room? It’ll be quieter in there.”

John nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Alex opened his door and the two stepped inside. John immediately went to Alex’s bed and dropped into a sitting position. “God, this is the worst.”

Alex made no move to sit down, merely standing in front of John with his lips pressed into a tight line.

“What?” John asked.

“Nothing,” Alex said.

“No, what?” John prompted.

Alex sighed and sat down next to John. “I wish _I_ could hang out with _my_ brother.”

John’s stomach dropped. “God, I’m so sorry, Alex,” he said. “All I do is complain about my family and I shouldn’t do that. Not when your family is… not here.” That was easiest way to describe a dead mother, an absent father, and a detached brother. Not here.

“It’s okay, John.”  
  
“No it’s not,” John insisted. “Because it makes you sad, and I never want to make you sad. I only want you to be happy, always. Because I love you.”

Alex held his hands together on his lap and stared down at them. “I love you too, John. You’re my best friend.”

“No.”

Alex glanced at John. “No?”

“I mean, yes,” John said. “You’re my best friend too, but I mean, I love you. I look at you and I just-- I want to hold you and kiss you and tell you over and over how I feel about you, and tell _everyone_ how I feel about you, and I just-”

Alex kissed him abruptly, smothering whatever words would have followed.

It took a moment for John to catch up, then his body came alive and he put his hands on Alex’s head and neck and kissed him back. However as soon as his brain also caught up, he yanked himself away. “My brother--”

“--is asleep in Herc’s room,” Alex reminded him. “Herc is looking after him. He’s not gonna walk in and see this. I promise.”

That was all the assurance John needed to press another kiss to Alex’s mouth.

  


John sat in the backseat of Gilbert’s car as Harry drifted in and out beside him.

“He’s just tired,” John muttered to himself, rehearsing in case their father had waited up for them. “He had a lot of fun and he made some new friends and he’s tired.”

In the driver’s seat, Gilbert cleared his throat. “So aside from that,” he said, nodding in Harry’s direction, “how did you enjoy the party?”

A smile bloomed on John’s lips as he remembered how Alex’s kiss had felt on them. His body grew warm as he remembered the way Alex had moved against it. His heart swelled as he remembered that moment he’d realized Alex wanted to hold it as much as John wanted him to have it.

“Best party yet,” he said. 


End file.
